In addition to Somalia and North Korea, which are tied for last at No. 182, the bottom of the list includes Myanmar, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Sudan, Iraq, Haiti and Venezuela.
The report was prepared by the independent, nonpartisan Transparency International organization, which says it drew its conclusions based "on different assessments and business opinion surveys carried out by independent and reputable institutions."
The information used to compile the index includes "questions relating to the bribery of public officials, kickbacks in public procurement, embezzlement of public funds and questions that probe the strength and effectiveness of public-sector and anti-corruption efforts," Transparency International said.
Perceptions are used, the organization said, because corruption is a hidden activity that is difficult to measure.
"Over time," the organization said in its report, "perceptions have proved to be a reliable estimate of corruption."
The rankings for other Western Hemisphere countries are: Uruguay (25), Puerto Rico (39), Costa Rica (50), Cuba (61), Brazil (73), Colombia, El Salvador and Peru (tied for 80), Panama (86), Argentina and Mexico (tied for 100), Bolivia (118), Ecuador and Guatemala (tied for 120), the Dominican Republic and Honduras (tied for 129), Nicaragua (134), Paraguay (154), Venezuela (172) and Haiti (175).
The index uses a scale of 0-10 to measure perceived corruption, with zero representing highly corrupt and 10 being very clean.
New Zealand, the highest-ranked nation, has a 9.5 score. Somalia and North Korea, the lowest-ranked, have 1.0.
The United States scored 7.1, while Canada is 8.7 and Chile is 7.2. Haiti, the lowest-ranked nation in the Western Hemisphere, scored 1.8. Next-worst is Venezuela with 1.9.
In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Turkey is ranked highest at 61 with 4.2 on the scale, and Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are lowest, tied for 177 with a 1.6 index value.
In the European Union and Western Europe, Denmark and Finland are best, tied for second with a 9.4 index value. Bulgaria is lowest at No. 86 with a 3.3 on the corruption scale.
In the Middle East and North Africa, Qatar is best at No. 22 and a 7.2 index value. Iraq is lowest, ranked No. 175 with a 1.8.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, Botswana is ranked highest at No. 32 and a 6.1 index value.
Transparency International, headquartered in Berlin, reports having 90 chapters worldwide. The organization says it works with partners in government, business and civil society to develop and implement effective measures to combat corruption.
The complete report, released Thursday, can be seen at www.transparency.org.
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RI ranks 100th in 2011 Corruption Perception Index
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 12/01/2011 8:54 PM
Indonesia received another low score in this year’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI), carried out by Transparency International.
Indonesia scored 3.0 in this year’s CPI, which was announced on Thursday by the Indonesian chapter of Transparency International. The result places Indonesia in 100th position out of 183 countries measured.
It is a slight increase on last year’s score of 2.8, where a score of 10 indicates a highly “clean” country and zero indicates a high level of corruption. Indonesia ranked 110 out of 178 countries in 2010, and 111th out of 180 countries in 2009.
“This shows no significant change in Indonesia’s corruption eradication efforts,” secretary general of Transparency International Indonesia Teten Masduki said in a press release made available to The Jakarta Post by e-mail.
The release added that, witnessing the sluggish progress of Indonesia’s corruption eradication efforts, the government’s target of a 5.0 score in the 2014 CPI was too ambitious.
Transparency International suggested the government undertake thorough and comprehensive bureaucracy reforms as well as reforming law enforcement institutions such as the police, the Attorney General’s Office and the courts.
